If you ever visited a farm, you might find an adorable Shetland Sheepdog or two. Don’t underestimate them because of their size. The dog’s innate skill is to guard a farmer’s garden from other animals and herd livestock, making this multi-tasking canine a good companion for farmers.
Intelligent to a fault, active, and eager to please, Shelties take well to training. Even though they’re quite friendly with just about everybody, they are also very vigilant of their families. They’re sensitive and shouldn’t spend too many hours alone at home. Always keep a Sheltie mentally and physically stimulated with tasks, training, and exercise to make them a healthy and happy companion. Training them also prevents them from becoming troublesome dogs, so they are only for attentive dog lovers.
Nowadays, there are a lot of Shetland Sheepdog Mix Breeds as much as there are Shetland Sheepdog purebreds. And you may find them in shelters and rescues who are still waiting for responsible, loving homes to take them in.
Shetland Sheepdog Breed History
The ancestry of the Shetland Sheepdog date back to the rocky Shetland Islands of Scotland, which lie between Scotland and Norway, about 50 miles north of Scotland and a bit south of the Arctic Circle. These furry, short dogs came to be after farmers crossbred small all-purpose farm dogs of Scandinavian herding dog and Scottish Working Collie, owned by the crofters on the Shetland Islands. Later, there were some crosses with show Collies when the residents decided to breed them for show purposes.
On the islands, sheep typically were left to run virtually wild in the open country for most of the year and the area around. The small farms in Scotland, called crofts, were fenced to keep the farm animals out. Thus, the work of the early Shelties included keeping livestock away from the crofts. And because of their dog ancestors, they are proven to be excellent in rounding up animals - sheep, cattle, ponies, poultry - and serving as watchdogs and family companions.
Shelties have continued to be used as working stock dogs, especially in mainland Britain and in the United States than on the Shetland Islands, ironically.
Initially, Shetland Sheepdog was called the Shetland Collie. But this caused disagreements among the Rough Collie breeders of the time. For many years, Shelties had the name Toonie as the word means “farm” in Norwegian. Due to their stout build, they are called Dwarf Scotch Shepherd, Miniature Collie, and Lilliputian Collie. They are now widely nicknamed Shelties, and that’s the name that we will use mostly on this guide book.
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